Emerging models of power among South African women business leaders
Open Access
- 22 April 2016
- journal article
- Published by AOSIS in SA Journal of Industrial Psychology
- Vol. 42 (1), 11 pages
- https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v42i1.1359
Abstract
Orientation: This paper represents a broader study which explores how South African women business leaders construct power in their life and leadership narratives. The research was approached with a feminist paradigm in its review of constructions of power and their potential for transformation of patriarchal power dynamics.Research purpose: The purpose was to critically analyse emerging models of power among South African women business leaders to include their perspectives in the process of theory building. Motivation for the study: Women in senior leadership positions are not necessarily enabling the transformation of organisations to include greater representation of women at senior levels. A critical understanding of women’s models of power may highlight unconscious processes contributing to this as well as emerging models that can facilitate change. Research design, approach and method: Qualitative research was conducted within a feminist social constructionist framework, using the method of discourse analysis of narrative texts to identify emerging models of power. The 10 women in the study included executives within corporations across a range of industry sectors in South Africa. Practical/managerial implications: The findings may guide approaches to gender transformation efforts in organisations and raise women leaders’ awareness of their conscious and unconscious impact on gender empowerment. Contribution/value-add: A novel contribution of this study is the emerging transformative model of power and the tensions women experience in asserting this power.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Identity undoing and power relations in leadership developmentHuman Relations, 2013
- Much Ado About Nothing? Observers' Problematization of Women's Same-Sex Conflict at WorkAcademy of Management Perspectives, 2013
- Spiritual power: the internal, renewable social power sourceJournal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 2011
- A “Major Career Woman”?Gender & Society, 2011
- The gender and leadership warsOrganizational Dynamics, 2011
- Feminist Poststructuralism and Discourse Analysis RevisitedPsychology of Women Quarterly, 2011
- Gender role stereotypes and requisite management characteristicsGender in Management: An International Journal, 2010
- Power in Transition: An Interdisciplinary Framework to Study Power in Relation to Structural ChangeEuropean Journal of Social Theory, 2009
- Gender Stereotypes in the Workplace: Obstacles to Women's Career ProgressPublished by Emerald ,2007
- Race, Gender, and Authority in the Workplace: Theory and ResearchAnnual Review of Sociology, 2002